Naru-Mon: Adventure Begins!
by MegaMad
Summary: Join Naruto as he starts his journey to prove to everyone he has what it takes to become a Pokemon Champion! Naruto/Dawn pairing. Rated T to be safe. This is my first story, so R&R so I can improve! Constructive critisism welcome.
1. Chapter 1

Naru-Mon: Adventure Begins

Hey there everyone!

I'd like to welcome everyone to my first story. I have been thinking of starting a Fanfic for a while now but due to a lack of ideas combined with a low self-esteem, I had held back on it. But no more!

Now this story is basically the characters of Naruto within the Pokémon world, although Pokémon characters will be in this fic. The main pairing in this will be Naruto and Dawn, mainly because I have yet to find a good story featuring these two as a couple. I might throw some naruhina into it at a later date also if people want it, but for now I'll stick with this one pairing.

Also I will be using the English names of the Pokémon characters, mainly because they are the ones I am most familiar with.

Anyway, with that out of the way, let the story begin!

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Final Exam!**

* * *

It was a great day to be outside, the sky was blue, the Starly were singing, this day was the perfect time to start a life-changing adventure.

Too bad Naruto was still stuck in class.

"NARUTO! Stop looking out the window and pay attention for once! Your final examinations are tomorrow and if you do not pass it you will not be starting your journey till next year!"

"But Iruka-sensei, everything you talk about is sooo boooring! You have talked about this stuff like a billion times now!" said a blonde haired, blue eyed teen swinging on the back legs of his chair.

Iruka's left eye started twitching. "That is why it is called revision. I am just going over everything you have been taught to make sure you know everything you need to know for when you start your journey. Plus, out of all the students here, you need it the most. You current written test scores are abysmal! Now stop swinging on your chair and pay attention." Iruka said, all the while giving Naruto a glare that only teachers seem capable of doing. Naruto tried matching the stare only to look away grumbling. "Fine, fine, have it your way". Iruka smiled. "Good. Now as I was saying, the move **Rollout** is a good example of combining move to achieve more effective results. By itself the move doubles in power with each consecutive use, but combine that move with a **Defence Curl** before beginning, it will further increase the power of the move, allowing-"

At that point Naruto stopped listening and allowed his mind to wander again. Honestly he couldn't help it that he was exited to start his journey. He even had already chosen what outfit he was going to wear throughout his journey. Heck, he was even wearing it now! A plain blue shirt with a black and orange hooded jacket over the top that had a red spiral on the back, along with the dark blue jeans with a black belt and some brand new black and orange running shoes that he had just bought last week. The one thing that he thought completed the look though was the black goggles with orange tinted glass he had received from his father for his 10th birthday. They were is most prized possession and combined with everything else he was wearing; he thought he looked pretty bad ass!

His eyes wandering back to Iruka, a brown haired man with a scar running along the bridge of his nose, he started to think about the progress he has made this year. As Iruka had said, he was definitely the person who needed to listen. Apart from the practical lessons in which they each chose a Pokémon from the Academy vault to have practice battles, which he excelled in, he was barely passing at the moment, and if he didn't pass this final exam, all of his work will have been for nothing.

Iruka was a good guy, he even saw Naruto as a little brother, just like Naruto saw him as a big brother. But he was also fair and very strict, if he didn't the marks needed to pass, Iruka will hold him back a year, and that was a year too many to be delaying his journey! Naruto sighed as he started to listen to the lecture again, counting every second to the end of the day. This wouldn't be so hard if Iruka stopped talking in that boring monotone!

* * *

As the bell rang everyone got up and rushed to the door hoping to get home quickly so they could watch Pokémon battles and contests on TV. Naruto was about to leave before he heard Iruka calling his name. Walking up to his desk he wondered what he wanted to talk about with him. Did he figure out he was the one to super glue Mizuki to his chair? He certainly hoped not.

"What did you want to talk about sensei?" asked Naruto.

"Well, instead of lecturing you on the importance on study, seeing as it hasn't worked in the past, and forcing you, which only results in you pulling a prank on me, I have decided to try a new method." Only now did he notice that Iruka had something behind his back. "And what would that be?" Naruto asked, hoping it wouldn't be something painful.

"Simple, bribery" said a smirking Iruka. "…huh?" Naruto was confused, out of all the things he was expecting, that wasn't one of them.

Iruka pulled out from behind his back a small box. Opening it he showed Naruto the contents of the box, smirking as he saw Naruto's eyes grow wide.

"Is That…"

"Yep, one Pokémon egg, straight from the day care centre."

Before he could get a closer look at the egg, Iruka quickly closed the box and pulled it away from Naruto. "Now Naruto, this egg belongs to one of my own Pokémon, and you must understand that the person that I give this to must be someone I am able to trust to look after it. Now I know you are great with Pokémon and treat them with great amounts of respect, plus you are like a little brother to me, but you will only get this egg if you pass with a score greater than 70. Anything less and I will keep the egg, got it?"

Naruto was shocked that he trusted him enough to have one of his own Pokémon's eggs. He also understood why he wanted him to do so good in the test. With a score that high he would have the knowledge needed to be able to look after the egg responsibly. He let out a calming breath and said "Thank you Iruka-sensei, I promise you that I will get that score and prove myself responsible enough to look after that egg, or my name isn't Naruto Uzumaki! Dattebayo!"

Iruka smiled, knowing how Naruto was with promises, he was sure that he would pass now. "Good, now you best be off, you have a long night of study ahead of you if you wish to keep that promise."

Naruto smirked and said "Right! See ya Iruka-sensei" before running out of the classroom to start studying.

Just as Iruka was finished packing up an old man walked into the room saying "So what has got Naruto in such a mad rush that he nearly knocks me over on his way out of here?". Iruka looked up to see the headmaster of the academy and one of the elites of the Pokémon world, Hiruzen Sarutobi. "Headmaster Hiruzen! I'm so sorry! I'll make sure to punish him as soon as he comes in for the exams tomorrow!" Iruka ground his teeth. How come when it seems Naruto is going to do something right he always seem to get into some trouble?! "Now, now. No need to be harsh on him. I'm sure he didn't mean it. Now as for my question?"

Iruka calmed at that before replying, "Well since I couldn't get Naruto to study, I decided to give him some incentive to pass. One of my Pokémon has just had an egg you see, and I was going to give it to him if he manages to score over 70". Hiruzen chuckled at that before saying "No wonder he is so excited, the opportunity to have two Pokémon at the start of his journey is not one he would miss. Although, don't you think that you might be showing favouritism towards him?"

Iruka shook his head "Not really, if he fails I will not let him go on his journey, simple as that. I made the offer as a parent would reward a child for good behaviour. I wanted the Pokémon in that egg to have an exciting life like its parents had and Naruto is the only person I trust enough to look after it."

"Fair enough. Well if that is all I better get back to my paperwork. Blasted stuff won't do itself. Have a nice afternoon." And with that Hiruzen left the classroom along with Iruka to battle the bane that is Paperwork. Why oh why was such torture considered work?!

* * *

Kushina Uzumaki, mother of one Naruto Uzumaki, was currently out the front of her house watering tending to her garden. After she had completed her Pokémon adventures, she always found that she was more comfortable in her garden than in her own home. She always chalked it up to her years camping in the great outdoors during her travels. That and her garden had berries that she had found and collected throughout her travels, one of the hobbies she had picked up when she wasn't battling gym leaders and competing in Pokémon contests.

She had just finished tending to her Oran Berry Tree when she saw her son come running up the path and straight into the house. Sending a confused glance to her Milotic, which was resting in the pool of her house, she wondered why he was in such a rush. Usually he at least greets her before he runs off to whatever plans he has for the day. Deciding to go she what is going on, she turns to her Pokémon and asks "Milotic sweetie, mind finishing off watering the plants for me?" Milotic simply nodded and began to charge up a **Rain Dance** to evenly water the plants. She certainly wasn't going to use her **Hydro Pump** on them, which just would be overkill.

Seeing her Pokémon starting its task, she walked into the house to go find her son. Her first thought was to go look in his room for him, but to her surprise she found him sitting at the table. Even more shocking was that it looked like he was studying. Naruto! Studying! After watching him sit still and actually read what was in front of him she was tempted to take his temperature just to make sure that he wasn't sick, but decided to simply ask her son to see if there was a reason for this sudden change.

"Naruto, mind if I ask why are you studying so suddenly? Usually you would put it off till all the Pokémon battles on TV are over and even then you don't really focus on it like you are now."

Naruto looked up from one of his study books to see his mother behind him. Thinking for a moment he answered "Well after school had finished for the day Iruka-sensei pulled me aside made me a really awesome offer! He said if I can get a good score on the exam tomorrow he would give me a Pokémon egg! How cool is that?!" Kushina could see how exited he was about this, and honestly she couldn't blame him. Not many people would be offered such a chance at the start of their journeys.

"That's great sweetie! It's good to see you are finally taking your study a bit more seriously, even if it is only for one day. Oh well, better late than never as they say"

Naruto flashed his signature grin before replying. "Thanks mom. Could you help me with some parts I can't understand? Some of the stuff in here is a bit hard."

Kushina hummed and got into a thinking position. "I could, but that was the point of studying back then instead of now." Naruto groaned at her reply, of course she was going to rub that fact in now. He swears she does this just for kicks.

"But now that I think of it, I have a better idea. Why don't I invite over your friends so that you could have a study session together? After all studying in a group is much better than studying by yourself."

"That's a great idea! You're a genius mom! I'll call them up right now!"

As he went to get up Kushina quickly put her hands on his shoulders preventing him from doing so. "I don't think so. You would probably invite Kiba over and just goof off the entire time. No, you just continue studying and I'll call my friends and tell them to bring their daughters over. At least I know that they will keep you focused." Naruto sighed before returning to studying. If there was one thing he knew about his mother, it was that she is almost as stubborn as he is, maybe more so. There was no point in arguing in this type of situation, so he just shut up and did what he was told.

"Now don't be like that, just because I'm trying to help you doesn't mean you can go all Sasuke on me." Naruto chuckled at that. It was a little thing his mother did, whenever he went into a brooding state of mind she would joke about how he looked like one emo brooder he knew. Naruto never liked Sasuke, even though their parents were friends. He always has this Mightier-than-thou attitude that always got to him. The way he acted you'd think he could piss holy water, plus his fangirls didn't really help the situation. So whenever his mood was compared to Sasuke's he usually quickly dropped out of it.

"Thanks mom. Well I better get to it"

"You do that" Kushina replied, before walking over to the phone to make a couple of calls.

* * *

Kushina was currently doing some cleaning around the house, making sure that everything was neat for her guests. Just as she had finished cleaning the living room, the doorbell started ringing.

"I'll get it!" shouted Naruto before rushing to the door to greet their guests for the night. Once he opened the door he found two older women around his mother's age and two girls from his class. Seeing who it was he smiled "Hey there Dawn, Hello Hinata, so my mom invited you guys over? Awesome! Now I know I'll be able to study better. ". Hinata blushed lightly while saying "Hello Naruto-kun. Thank you for inviting us over." "No problem, it's always nice to have you guys over!".

Hinata blush grew deeper as she started to shuffle around a bit. Dawn then stepped forward "Hey Naruto, starting to feel the pressure from the Exams?" "Not really, though I really want to get a good score on it!" This peaked both Dawn's and Hinata's curiosity. "Oh and why is that?" As he was about to reply his mother's voice came through from the living room.

"Naruto, be a good host and actually let them into the house why don't you?"

"Oh yeah, sorry about that. Mrs Hyuuga, Miss Berlitz, my mom's in the living room at the moment. I've currently got my study stuff set up on the dining room table. If you guys get your stuff set up so we can begin, I'll get us some food and drink."

Hitomi Hyuuga smiled at the young teen's actions "Thank you for that Naruto. Hinata go on, I'll just be talking with Kushina while you three are studying. Together." She made sure to stress the last word; it was always fun to tease Hinata like this when it came to her crush, "Y-Yes mother" she squeaked in reply, before moving off to the dining room to set up. "You too Dawn, I'm sure that you want to get started" said Johanna Berlitz. "Okay then!" Dawn replied, before rushing off to join Hinata.

* * *

As they walked into the house Naruto closed the door before going to the kitchen to prepare some snacks for his friends. After making some decent food he brought it out to the dining room where is friends had just finished setting up and were waiting for him.

Dawn and Hinata were two people he has known since he was a little kid. With their parents being best friends and all it was inevitable that they would meet also. Dawn had blue hair and blue eyes and looked a fair bit like her mother. She was currently wearing her favourite clothes, a white sleeveless shirt, black top and pink skirt along with it. She wore a different style of running shoes to his, and they were also pink. Compared to Dawn, in choice of clothing, Hinata was a polar opposite. Her choice of clothing was a dark blue shirt with a large cream coloured jacket that looked once size too big for her. She also wore dark blue leggings, along with some running shoes of her own, cream in colour.

"Alright then let's get down to it" he said before setting down the plate and moving to where he had his stuff set up. "Not before you tell us why you want to get a good score for this exam" was Dawn's reply. "Yes, I also wish to know why y-you want to do better" Hinata also said.

"Oh yeah, Well you see-". Naruto went on to explain why he wanted to do better. Once he was done explaining the reason to them both of them had rather shocked expressions on their faces, it was actually rather amusing. "You mean to tell me if you do well you get a Pokémon egg alongside with your starting Pokémon? Wow, that's amazing!" was the exited reply from Dawn. "Yes, t-that's really nice of Iruka-sensei to do. Do you k-know what Pokémon it is going to be Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata, wondering which once of Iruka's Pokémon it could be.

"Well he didn't really say, but that doesn't really matter, I bet it will be awesome no matter what Pokémon it is!" Naruto said. "Well we better get started if we are gonna get you that egg. As you are now you will have no hope of getting it." Dawn said cheekily.

"Yeah I guess your rig - HEY!"

* * *

"So that is why he is willingly studying. I must say, seeing Naruto sitting still for so long just seems unnatural. At least there is a reason behind it. ". Hitomi commented. "I know what you mean, I remember when you gave him a bag of sweets for his eighth birthday, no one could get him to sit still for less than three seconds that day." Kushina sighed at Johanna's words. "Don't remind me, that night he ran around the entire house before crashing on the couch at 4am in the morning." The women giggled at their friend's distress.

Deciding to change the subject, Kushina asks "So how are Hinata and Dawn going? Are they still crushing on my son?". "Well Hinata definitely does, it is amazing how she is confident most of the time but brings Naruto up in conversation and shy Hinata appears." "Dawn also does too, but by the looks of it she doesn't have a problem around him. My guess is that she sees him as a friend first and a potential boyfriend second. She doesn't want to lose him as a friend." Johanna said as she took a sip from her tea before asking "Do you have any idea who he is interested in yet? I mean he must have some crush about now, right?"

Let it be known that while Kushina, Hitomi and Johanna are friends, they are also very competitive rivals. When they started on their journey they were always trying to one up each other, and to this very day they still try to. Kushina currently has the best garden and berry selection, Johanna makes the best poffins and the best sewing skills out of them and Hitomi has the best cooking skills, all of which they continue to try and outdo each other on.

The reason for the current question is because Hitomi and Johanna currently have a bet going on whose daughter will snag Naruto first. Both sides have been making subtle moves to try and get there choice together. There is only one bump in this plan.

Kushina sighed once again. "Nope, apart from that minor one on that Sakura girl which quickly fell apart with the way she treated him, he has not shown any hints onto who he is crushing on at the moment. Plus he is very dense on this subject you know, same as his father. At the rate he is going your girls might have to get him the way I got my husband." They all giggled at that. Now that was one interesting story, and most definitely one she was going to use to embarrass the hell out of Naruto.

* * *

It was now the day of the exams, and for once Naruto felt like he didn't need to worry about it. Hinata, Dawn and he had stayed up till late studying and helping each other out with parts they did not understand. Their parents had decided to stay for dinner to allow them more time for study, and with the exam only a few minutes away, he truly appreciated the help his friends have given him.

"So Naruto, think you gonna pass this little test?" Naruto turned around to find Kiba, another of his childhood friends, standing behind him.

"Hell yeah! I stayed up late last night studying everything I could so I could get a high score. My mum even invited Hinata and Dawn over so we could study together." Kiba was a little surprised by that. "Hey, how come I wasn't invited? Arceus knows I need the study time too."

"Well I was going to invite you but as my mom said, if I had we both would have most likely messed around instead of studying"

Kiba scratched his cheek a bit while chuckling. "Yeah, that actually would have happened. I guess it was good you didn't invite me then. I did manage to get some study done though, my sister made sure of that." They both shuddered at that. While Kiba's sister Hana was nice most of the time, she could get violent if people annoyed her, and they both had done that at some point.

"Can I have everyone's attention?"

Naruto and Kiba turned around to find Iruka standing at the door to the classroom. "Thank you. When you walk into the class you are to find where your name is written and sit at the seat assigned to you. The exam papers will be handed out once everyone is seated; you are not to start them until I say so. Now please follow me." Iruka then walked into the class with the students starting to follow him.

"Well, good luck Naruto, you'll need it." Kiba said as he started to enter the classroom.

"I won't need it; I have put too much effort into this to not succeed. Dattebayo!" And with that Naruto rushed into the classroom, ready to take the first steps on his journey to be a Pokémon Champion!

* * *

At that's the end of the first chapter!

Should note that I am setting things up for the next chapter, once I get it rolling it should flow a bit better hopefully.

So what do you think? Great? Horrible? Any feedback would be nice, though since this is my first story I don't expect much. Also if you must flame, try to make it constructive criticism.

Also, if you guys wanted to suggest some starters for the Konoha 12 I'll be happy to look at them. I do have Naruto's, Sasuke's and Sakura's in mind but if you have a better suggestion I will be happy to see it!

Anyway, review and let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

Wow! I didn't expect so many people would read my story!

Thanks for all the feedback I have been given so far. It has given me some interesting ideas for the story. So without further delay, here is chapter 2!

* * *

**Meeting Their Partners!**

* * *

Iruka let out a sigh of satisfaction as he finally finished marking the exam papers. It had taken a while but from what he has seen, it was all worth it. Every one of his students had at least gotten a passing grade and while most of them most likely not continue past their first journey, he was glad he was able to give these children that opportunity.

"Finally finished Vaporeon, give me a minute and we will be out of here. I just need to go through the last of this and review the selections." Iruka said as he looked down to where is own partner was resting.

"Vvaaae" was her reply, before she got up and stretched before walking around to where Iruka was sitting. Iruka remembered when he got her as his first Pokémon back when he had started his journey. She was a bit rowdy back then, but when she evolved when he gave her a Water Stone she seemed to mellow out a bit. Her rowdy side still showed though when they got into battles.

Going through the papers and putting them in order, he spotted Naruto's paper that he had put aside earlier on after he marked it. Honestly, he couldn't believe Naruto was able to scrape a 71 on his exam, but that what he gets for not counting on his level of unpredictability. It seems like he will have to give him the egg after all. Oh well, he knew it is in good hands. Putting the exam papers aside he pulled towards him a new stack of sheets, the starting Pokémon assignment sheets.

These papers marked what student would be receiving which Pokémon, based largely on things such as grades and personality test done throughout their time in the academy. Flipping through the selections made he found that some were largely expected, while others just seemed a bit out of place. As he was about to take a more detailed look into the assignments, Hiruzen stepped into the room. Trailing behind him was Enma, the old headmasters own starting Pokémon, an Infernape.

"Ah Iruka, it seems you have completed marking the exam papers. May I ask for your opinion of this year's graduates?" asked Hiruzen as he stopped in front of the desk.

"Well, all of them managed to pass the exam, making so they all get to start their journeys. From what I have seen and read about some of the students, I expect at least half of them to not continue past one year of being a Pokémon trainer. It just doesn't seem to suit some of them and I personally think that the hype is what made them want to do it in the first place."

Hiruzen stroked his chin as he thought on Iruka's words. "Yes I see what you mean, but what of those who will continue past that year?"

Iruka responded with a smile "Those are the trainers I how the most hopes for this year. The ones I expect to continue are all very passionate when it comes to Pokémon."

Hiruzen nodded at that. "What about Naruto?" He certainly hopes that he passed; it would break the poor boys heart if he couldn't start his journey with his friends.

Instead of answering, Iruka decided to give him Naruto's exam results. Picking it up from the pile he hand it over to Hiruzen, who them starts to read over it. Once he finished he started to chuckle, before handing the paper back to Iruka. "Of course Naruto would blow our expectations out of the water. To think he got such a high score on a written test, his parents will be proud."

"Yeah, but even with this amazing score, he still ranks last out of his entire class. If only he put this much effort into all of his work. If he did he would have easily become a competitor for rookie trainer of the year." Iruka replied.

Hiruzen simply nodded his head. Not much they could do about that now, but no point dwelling on the past when you can work towards a better future. Speaking of futures...

"Also what do you think of the Pokémon selected to be his partner?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure what to think of it. Do you really think Naruto will be able to help it after all it has been through? While Naruto is great with Pokémon, I don't think even he will be able to get it to trust him." Said Iruka as he looked at the papers with details of the Pokémon selected to be Naruto's partner.

"True, but I trust the Uzumaki stubbornness to pull through on this one. Plus if you look at their profiles more closely, once they get past the obvious mistrust they will be a formidable team. It is the same with me and Enma here" He gestured to his Pokémon who has taken a seat on top one of the desks, who snorted at Hiruzen's statement before muttering something. Hearing what the old Pokémon was saying, Vaporeon let out a small laugh while Hiruzen developed a twitch in his eye.

"If I remember correctly you were just as bad Enma, so stop complaining!" Hiruzen then turned his attention back to Iruka. "Just trust him to pull through with it like you trust him to look after that egg. Once they get through the first week together I'm sure you will notice the difference."

"Very well then, but to be sure I won't give them the egg till the week is up, that way he doesn't split his attention." Iruka said as he finished cleaning up the remaining papers.

Hiruzen nodded at this. "Good idea, he needs to know that the Pokémon chosen will be his starter, not the Pokémon in the egg." He then turned to the door and started to walk out. "Make sure that all the students are well acquainted with their Pokémon before you let them out tomorrow. Be sure to explain the reasons behind the choices privately if they ask about them also." He then gestured to his Pokémon, who grunted before standing up and saying farewell to his fellow Pokémon before following after him. "Now if there is no more business you need me for I'll be heading home for the day. I suggest you do the same Iruka."

"Thank you headmaster, I think I will follow your advice. Have a nice day" Said Iruka as he got up and collected what he was going to take home with him. As Hiruzen walked out of the classroom, Iruka turned to his own partner and said "Ready to go now Vaporeon?" "'Vae Vaporeon!" was his Pokémon's reply. As she rushed out of the classroom, Iruka began to think of the reactions he will get from his students when they see the Pokémon they are going to be partnered with. He started to laugh at some of the images that appeared. Oh yes, he was definitely bringing a camera tomorrow.

* * *

"So Naruto, how do you think you did on the exam?" asked Kushina as she was preparing dinner for the night. Naruto looked up from the map of the Sinnoh region he had been reading to answer his mother. "Well, there were some parts that I still had trouble with, but after me and my friend's studies so hard, I am sure that I got an awesome score! Maybe I even beat Sasuke-teme!"

"Now don't get too overconfident. While you may have beaten Sasuke in the exam, he has been doing better than you for the large part of the year. Chances are you will still have the lowest score of the class." She then returned to her cooking while Naruto thought about what his mother had said.

'_She has got a point, this time was the only time I really tried on a written test. Even then it was only because Iruka-sensei offered me that egg. I better step up my game if I want to outright beat the Teme.'_ Naruto then returned to studying the map in his hands, currently focusing on the area around Twinleaf Town, his home.

After a few more minutes Kushina brought dinner to the table. After giving Naruto his plate and sitting down to eat hers, she asked "so why are you studying that map so hard Naruto? I thought you wouldn't be doing any more after you finished the academy."

Naruto took a bite of the ramen that her mother had prepared. She made it as a well done gift for the exams. "Well I remembered that once we get our starting Pokémon we have a week to bond with it before we actually can start our journey. So I was looking for a good camping spot near the town where I could get to know the Pokémon I am going to be partnered with. I thought it would be good practice for when we hit the road" Kushina nodded at that, "Good idea. At least you will be near enough to get help if you need it. Anyway put that map away and finish your dinner. I'll help you once you help me wash the dishes.

"Okay mom." Naruto put the map aside and started to dig into the ramen. If there was one thing he was going to miss, it was his mother's ramen. It was probably the best thing she could cook in his opinion.

* * *

Hinata was sitting down watching some TV before she went to bed that night. Currently she was watching a replay of a contest in which a brown haired girl with a red bandanna was facing of some green haired pretty boy. She hoped the girl won, because honestly the guy was acting like a complete jerk from what she saw.

It was at that moment her parents walked into the room and took a seat on the couch either side of her. Her father, Hiashi Hyuuga was a strict man when it came to how things were run in the house, but he also showed a great amount of care towards his two daughters, her and Hanabi, Hinata's little sister. Hitomi was able to tone down some of the strictness to allow some room to breathe for them, including the rule that he had put in place about boyfriends. While it was sweet how caring he was towards them, his overprotectiveness sometimes was a bit suffocating.

"So Hinata, what Pokémon do you think you will start off with? I know for a fact you would have passed so I want to know what you have planned for your Pokémon team?" asked Hiashi.

Hinata turned off the TV before answering her father. "Well my guess would be a psychic type or a water type starter would suit me the most, what do you think?"

Hitomi thought on about her daughters question before saying "Well that seems accurate. Though maybe you might get a normal type, after all they are pretty versatile." Hiashi nodded to his wife's words. "Yes a normal type seems the most likely option, but we won't know until tomorrow now will we?"

Hiashi then got up and started to leave the room. "Now it would be best if you head to bed. You will want to wake up early so you can receive your Pokémon at the same time as everyone else. Goodnight."

When Hiashi had left the room, Hitomi leant down and whispered in her daughter's ear. "The main thing he wants is for you to beat his brother's son. Those two are always trying to do better than the other." Hinata let out a giggle at that. "You and Kushina and Johanna are the same though aren't you?"

Hitomi put on a mock scowl at her daughters words. "There is no way I am that bad, is there?" Hinata giggled a bit more before getting up to go to bed. "I'll see you in the morning mother. Plus for the record, yes you are." With that Hinata left, leaving Hitomi to her thoughts. _'We are not that bad, are we?'_

* * *

"Dawn, it's time for bed!" Johanna's voice sounded throughout the house, making Dawn pause writing in her dairy to reply. "Yes mother!" She then turned to her diary and continues to write.

'_-type for my starter, they just seem the perect type for coordinators to use. Anyway once I have my Pokémon and the weeks break is over, I hope I am partnered up with Naruto. It would be awesome to have our adventures together! Hinata too I guess. I certainly hope I don't get stuck with Sasuke though, that would really ruin the experience. Anyways I better head off to bed so I can be up bright and early tomorrow. I'll write again soon!'_ Once she had finished she closed the dairy and secured it with a blue rubber band, before putting it under her pillow.

Johanna then walked in with her Glameow and sat on the bed next to Dawn. "So are you exited for tomorrow? I remember I was when I got my Glameow." She said as she stroked her Pokémon's fur, which got an appreciative purr from the Pokémon. "Definitely! I can't believe I can finally start working towards my dream!"

Johanna smiled at her daughter's enthusiasm. Her dream was the same as hers was when she was Dawn's age, to be a top coordinator. It was a hard road fill with both surprises and disappointments, but she knew her daughter would be fine on her journey.

"That's good, so what are you going to do during the week break?" She was asking this to make sure that she would be safe before she started her journey. Hey, she was a mother! She is allowed to worry about the well-being of her own daughter.

Dawn tapped her chin and hummed before saying "Well what I was going to do was start to learn how to cook properly while on the road. I can't just eat canned food all the time. I was also going to use the time to practice coordinating with my starter once I get it." Johanna was relieved at that. She was worried she would run off into the woods and get caught in an Ariados's web or something. "Well I'll help you with the cooking part, but you can do the coordinating on your own. I will give you some tips though if you are having enough trouble."

"Thanks mom. I'll go to bed now, see you tomorrow!" Dawn said as she got into bed and turned off the light. "Goodnight Dawn, have sweet dreams." Johanna said as she closed the door behind her.

* * *

"All right, can I have your attention please?" Iruka's voice boomed over the class. Everyone quickly quieted down and returned to their seats.

"Thank you, first of all I would like to congratulate you all on passing the Pokémon Academy. It makes me proud to know that you all tried your best and have proven yourselves ready to become Pokémon Trainers. Now I know you all are excited to meet your new partners, so I'll save the speech for the end. I will now call out your names in the order you passed at within the class." Iruka then pulled out a stack of large envelopes and a box with Pokéballs.

He took the first Pokéball out from the box and picked up the envelope on top of the pile. "First up is this year's top rookie trainer, who is none other than Sasuke!" Almost all the girls in the class let out squeals of delight as Sasuke walked up to Iruka and took his envelope containing his certificate and information on his Pokémon.

Naruto was peeved off by the Uchiha's attitude, acting all high and mighty. Even the way he dressed pissed him off. A dark blue shirt with a black, sleeveless jacket over the top and some white, baggy shorts that went to his knees, along with black sneakers with small amounts of blue on them. He just seemed to think that he was the definition of cool. One day he would show him.

"Why don't you let you Pokémon out for everyone to see?" said Iruka.

Sasuke nodded and with a smirk on his face threw his Pokéball into the air. There was a flash as the ball opened, spewing a white energy onto the ground which quickly took form. Once the white energy had disappeared in its place stood a Black and red canine. It had white loops on its feet and a rib like structure on its back, along with a skull like structure on the top of its head.

If anything Sasuke's smirk seemed to grow wider "Well, looks like you my new partner, Houndour." Said Pokémon seemed to size hime up before smirking itself and growling in reply. Sasuke then returned the Pokémon and walked back to his seat, the entire way girls swooning over how cool his Pokémon was.

"Alright next up is Shino, who came in a close second" Said Iruka as he pulled out another envelope and Pokéball.

Shino was wearing a forest green high collar jacket along with some grey jeans and grey shoes. Not many people spoke to Shino; he usually kept to himself most of the time.

Shino walked up and received his stuff, before letting his Pokémon out also. The Pokémon that appeared was a small white and brown bug with green wings and white antennae.

"Nincada, an interesting choice." Shino then returned the Pokémon and moved back to his desk, all the while thinking of ways he could raise his Pokémon to its maximum potential.

"Sakura, you're up." Sakura then ran down and thanked Iruka before releasing her Pokémon. What appeared that had the appearance of a small teddy bear; brown fur covered its body with cream coloured fur on its belly. There was also a crescent shape on its head which was also cream coloured.

"SO CUTE!" Sakura squealed before picking the Pokémon up in a hug. "Teddiursa, you and I will be the best of pals!" "Uuurrr!" Teddiursa said with a smile of its own.

Next was Hinata's turn, who then quickly went down and released her Pokémon. What appear looked like a small child in appearance. It had a white body resembling a dress and green hair in a bowl cut. It also had a rounded, red horn on the front and back of its head.

"Raaalts?" The Pokémon squeaked before hiding behind Iruka's desk. Hinata kneeled down and approached in a non-threatening manner. "Hello there, I'm Hinata. Don't worry, I won't hurt you." Ralts, sensing no malice, but only kindness from the young teen, quickly came out and gave Hinata a hug. Hinata smiled before returning the Pokémon to its Pokéball and moving so that the next person could come down.

Choji then went down to claim his Pokémon. Choji was a, *ahem*, big boned fellow. He had long spiky brown hair that reached his back. He mainly wore a red shirt with 'food' written on it and a grey sleeveless jacket over the top along with grey long shorts and some red running shoes.

Releasing his Pokémon, he was happy to find a Munchlax, a blue and cream coloured bipedal Pokémon that had two pointed ears on the top of its head. Offering the Pokémon some chips from his bag, the Pokémon quickly grabbed them and ate them before smiling at his new friend. "Munch!" It said offering its hand. Choji quickly took it and after shaking it returned the Pokémon to it Pokéball.

Ino was up next, wearing a purple top and skirt along with some purple sandals. She skipped down to Iruka and took her documents before throwing her Pokéball into the air and releasing a small Pokémon.

It was a small green Pokémon known as Budew. See her new partner let out a yawn, Ino went and picked it up and started to tickle it. "Why aren't you the cutest thing? Definitely cuter than Sakura's Pokémon." "Ha! Dream on, Ino-pig!" Ino quickly turned to Sakura before yelling "What did you say Forehead?!"

Iruka quickly took hold of the situation. "Sakura, Ino! Show some respect towards each other now. You can save the rivalry for outside the classroom." Ino growled "Fine." She then returned her Pokémon before going to her seat, mumbling curses and threats directed towards a certain pink haired teen.

"Dawn, it's your turn now" said Iruka as he reached for another Pokéball.

"Okay" Dawn said as she started to come down. Tossing her Pokéball to her right a bright glow appeared before fading to reveal a small blue penguin Pokémon with a yellow beak and feet. "Piplup!" the Pokémon called before facing his new partner.

"Hello, I'm Dawn. Nice to meet you!" said Dawn as she kneeled down to shake the Pokémon's flipper. Piplup quickly took it and shook before puffing his chest out and tried to impress his new friend. Dawn smiled at her new partner before Sakura said "At least it isn't an electric Pokémon, isn't that right, Dee Dee?" At this a good portion of the class laughed while Dawn growled before recalling her Pokémon and returning to her seat.

"Calm down Dawn. She is just trying to get a reaction out of you, just relax." Hinata said as she tried to calm her friend. "Yeah, she is just saying it to be mean, so don't listen to her. Besides, Dee Dee is a cute nickname, better than mine at least." Said Naruto thinking of when everyone called him Fishcake. It was Maelstrom, dammit!

Dawn blushed and smiled at her friends. "Thanks, I needed that."

After some other students were listed Shikamaru was then called up. He was wearing a fairly average looking clothes, a grey shirt with some light blue jeans and grey shoes. Taking his time getting to the front Shikamaru wondered why he was going on this adventure again. Oh yeah, because of his troublesome mother. Sighing as he released his Pokémon for the others to see, he couldn't believe they chose this Pokémon for him.

Floating in front of him was a Shuppet, a ghost Pokémon. It looked like a small cloth covered ball with a horn on top. It also had blue and yellows eyes, and by looking into them he could tell…

"You are going to be very troublesome, aren't you?" He asked the Pokémon, though he wasn't expecting an answer. Shuppet merely laughed and floated through Shikamaru's head, to his great displeasure. After muttering "I thought so." he recalled Shuppet and returned to his seat where he put his head down, hoping to ease future headaches he knew he was going to have.

After a couple more minutes Kiba was called. He wore a black shirt with a grey, hooded jacket over the top. The edges of the hood had fur lining them also. Multi pocket brown jeans and greyish black boots completed the look. He quickly made his way to the front and released the Pokémon he was given.

A small orange furred dog appears with a mane of a cream like colour. "Growlithe!" the Pokémon called before jumping up and licking Kiba on the nose. Kiba laughed before picking up the Pokémon and saying "I know we are going to make an amazing team, isn't that right boy?" Growlithe happily barked before he was return to his Pokéball.

After the rest of the students were called off it was finally Naruto's turn. Taking the Pokéball in his hands he calmed himself before throwing it into the air. Once the glow was gone Naruto was treated with a rare sight.

In front of him was a Vulpix of a different colour, and not one of those 'Shiny' Pokémon people kept talking about either. Its fur was a more orange than the normal red Naruto noted. It had black markings around its eyes that lead up to the inside of its ears, and when it opened its eyes, they were a bright red.

Naruto knelt down next to the Pokémon before smiling and saying "Hey there, the names Naruto! Looks like you and I are going to be partners from now on, isn't that neat?" The Vulpix stared at Naruto for a few seconds before snarling and launching an **Ember** into his face.

"Gyah!" Naruto yelled as he stumbled back, clutching his face. "What was that for?!"

The Vulpix simply sniffed and looked away from Naruto. As he got up from the ground he noticed that some of the class was laughing at him. "Nice going Dobe. A loser Pokémon, perfect for a loser like you. You two would be better off in the circus!" Sasuke said as the class continued to laugh.

Naruto said nothing as he recalled his Vulpix, who looked ready to attack the bastard. He made his way back to his seat where Hinata had already gotten out her healing salve and started to apply it to Naruto's burn marks.

* * *

Iruka sighed. He was afraid that might happen.

"Now that is over with, can we please continue?" asked Iruka. Soon the laughter had died down leaving Iruka ready to speak. "Thank you. Now the week break coming up is a time that you will use to bond with your new partners. The way you spend said time is up to you, as long as you do it with you Pokémon. Now once the week is over you will be given your Pokedex's and spare Pokéballs and then you can officially begin your journey. "

"Remember, you are only allowed to catch five other Pokémon giving you a total of six. You are not allowed to catch more than this until you get your fourth badge or your second ribbon. Once you pass that you are allowed ten Pokémon. After you get eight badges or five ribbons, the limit will be removed, and you can catch as many Pokémon as you want, but until that time, choose you Pokémon wisely. "

"You also will be partnered up into groups of three for the first year of your journey. You must stay with this group for that year of face the consequences. The world is a dangerous place, so these partnerships will help you in the long run. After this year is over, you are free to continue your journey by yourself, or you can continue to travel in a group, which is the recommended option."

"Now are there any questions?" Looking around, he saw no-one seemed to have one. "Okay then, now this is the last time I get to say this to you guys, but know that I am proud of all you. Be sure to drop by if you are passing through okay? Now, Class Dismissed!" and with that everyone cheered and started to head out the door, talking animatedly among themselves.

* * *

As Iruka himself was about to walk out of the classroom, he noticed that Naruto seemed to be waiting for him. Having an idea about what Naruto wanted to ask, he says "So, what do you think of your new starter Pokémon?"

Naruto sighed at his question. Of course he would know what he wanted to talk about. "I'm just confused as to why my Pokémon acted so aggressively. You'd think he had a bone to pick with me or something."

Iruka nodded at Naruto's statement. "Close, but it not just you. Every person that Vulpix meets receives similar treatment. He just doesn't trust humans in general."

Naruto thought about that. While it is true that there are Pokémon that usually hold distrust for humans for one reason or another, most of the time they can look past that hate after they find the right trainer. But this one…

"So what happened to him to make him hate people so much?" A simple question actually. Though it was one that required a long answer. Iruka sighed before telling Naruto what he knew of the Vulpix.

"From what I understand, that Vulpix had just hatched before it witnessed his trainer, an old and wise hermit who had retired to a house in the mountains, be murdered in front of him. Being a Vulpix of a different colour than normal made him highly sought after. Pokémon like this are usually sold on the black market for extremely high prices. He was taken from his home and sold to a Pokémon collector and not the nice kind either. He kept him locked up in a cage and placed in a display room with other Pokémon." Iruka paused to take in Naruto's reaction. He seemed to be deep in thought, with a slight frown on his face.

"Anyway from this experience alone is enough for most Pokémon to harbour hatred for humans, but it gets a lot worse for him I'm afraid. Not long after being put on display, about a month or so, one of the men he had hired had taken an interest in the Vulpix, and offered him double what he had paid for the Pokémon. Naturally the man's greed kicked in and immediately accepted the offer. So the man took the Vulpix, and this is where it gets worse."

"The man was part of a group known as the Akatsuki, a criminal organisation that is notorious for its many business ventures into the criminal world. Chances are every large scale crime or criminal organisation was organised or supported by them in some way. They are comprised of only elite trainers, ones that have thrown away their humanity in their search for power. Now as I said, Vulpix was taken by one of these trainers. He put the poor thing through hell and back over three months just so he could break its spirit, and he almost succeeded. Thankfully, a tip off from an unknown individual gave the police the chance to capture this Akatsuki Agent. He was quickly sent to a high security jail and his Pokémon sent to new homes."

Iruka paused again to see Naruto now had a large scowl on his face. Iruka was actually surprised by it. He rarely sees Naruto get worked up like this, and it usually spells trouble for the one responsible.

"Now for most of the other Pokémon raised by the trainer, their spirits were already broken, they were easy to handle. They managed to find trainers that could help them recover from their ordeal, but for the Vulpix, since he held strong for the five months he was captive, all it could think of was all the bad things that happened to it. It quickly grew into a hatred of all humans, not even Headmaster Hiruzen was able to get the Pokémon to warm up to him. That is why he gave it to you."

Naruto looked up at that. "What makes you think that I will be able to help him, I mean I know I'm awesome with Pokémon, but if the old man couldn't help him the-""Then you would." Iruka said, interrupting him. "What that Vulpix needs is a trainer that can show him not all humans are bad, and you are a shining example of a good human. You have the strength to break that mistrust and the stubbornness to keep on trying till he sees the truth. You are the only person who is capable of doing this."

Naruto took in everything that Iruka had said. The old man trusts this task to him. They think he is the only one capable of helping Vulpix. It was the same with Iruka trusting his egg to him. He be damned if he didn't at least try. They both believed in him, so he is going to make sure that they don't regret that choice.

"Okay Iruka-sensei, I'll do it. I'll help that Vulpix see past his hate and show him that there are good humans, not just bad. That is my promise of a lifetime! Dattebayo!" Naruto yelled as he stood up to leave. "Thank you Iruka-sensei, I'll make you proud! Tell the old man I said thanks too!"

Iruka smiled at him. "Sure thing, Naruto. Also before you leave, I will be holding onto the egg until the week is over. That way you can have some bonding time with Vulpix without having to worry about the egg." Naruto was fine with that, one week wouldn't hurt. "Okay then! See you in a week!"

As Naruto started to run home he looked down at the Pokéball still in his hands. _'Don't worry buddy, I'll help you deal with your past, and help you shape a even better future for yourself… Kurama…'_

* * *

And that is chapter 2!

I wanted to get this part out quickly so you guys could see what I had planned for my story. Hopefully you like it!

Some of the Pokémon suggested for starters I might use for their teams if they fit into what I think would work for the story.

Review and remember that constructive criticism is welcome.


	3. Chapter 3

Finally Here is chapter 3! Sorry for the wait!

* * *

Week Break

* * *

"Hey mom, I'm home!"

Kushina who was currently tending to her garden looked up to find Naruto coming up the path. From the way he was smiling she could tell things went well. "Welcome home, sweetie. How did you go?" Naruto smiled and held out the hand containing his Pokéball. "I passed! Like you said I was still at the bottom of the class in terms of grades, but being able to start my journey makes it all worth it!"

Kushina smiled at her son's enthusiasm. "Well don't keep me in suspense, what did you get for your first Pokémon. Let it out so I can see it." Naruto's smile faltered a bit at that. "Ah, well you see that might not be a good idea. He has a bit of an anger issue at the moment." One of Kushina's eyebrows rose at that.

"Really? He can't be that bad. Just let him out already, I'm sure he doesn't want to be cooped up inside that Pokéball all the time!" "B-but mom!" Naruto tried to explain, but his mother wouldn't let him. "No buts! Now do it!"

He sighed, knowing what was about to happen. Pressing the button on the ball to expand it, he then threw it into the air where it snapped open and released his Vulpix. The little fox Pokémon shook its head before looking around, familiarising himself with his new surroundings. Vulpix heard a squeal behind him and turned to find a red haired woman and the blonde haired child he had burned earlier.

"Wow, he is just adorable! How could you think such a cute Pokémon can be so dangerous?" Kushina got on her knees and started to pet the little fox Pokémon and Naruto could tell he didn't like being touched like that. The Vulpix growled before snapping at Kushina's hand, which she was able to pull away just in time. He then quickly jumped back and started to release an **Ember** attack towards her. Kushina was able to get out of the way in time and not get burned. Sadly, the same couldn't be said about her prized garden.

"AH! MY BERRY PLANTS!" She quickly pulled out her Pokéball and released her Milotic, who immediately saw the fire and started to put the flames out with her **Hydro Pump**. She would worry about the damage done later; right now saving the rest of the plants was a priority.

Naruto sighed again before quickly recalling the Vulpix before he could do any more damage. He better help his mom put out the fires, and prepare to explain the situation once that was out of the way.

* * *

Both Naruto and his mother were now sitting down at the living room table, slightly damp from all the water that was used to put the fire out. Naruto had explained what Iruka had told him about the Vulpix's situation. The look on her face was really scary, never before had he seen his mother that pissed. He idly wondered if he was like this when Iruka had told him. Maybe.

He quickly snapped out of his thoughts when his mother started to speak. "To think that people can be so cruel to Pokémon. It really sickens me to think at there are people like that out there." She then shook her head before looking at her son. "Sorry for not listening before, guess I should have actually listened to what you had to say before jumping the gun like that."

"No worries, no one got hurt in the end." Kushina sent a glare at him, the thought of her precious berry bushes burning still fresh in her mind. "So anyway, I'm gonna get my stuff ready so I can get to the camping spot before the sun sets. Think I will need anything before I head out?" Naruto asked.

"Not that I can think of. Where did you decide that you were going to set up camp anyway?"

Naruto went over to his backpack and pulled out his map, before bringing it over so he could show her. Naruto pointed to a location just south-west of Twinleaf Town. "I thought this spot would be good with Vulpix being a fire type and all." Looking at the map, she couldn't help but agree. The place had the basic needs for a camp like a running stream and some natural shelter. The main thing was it was on the bottom side of a small cliff face and had very few burnable objects in the area.

"Looks like a good spot, just make sure that you have your medical supplies ready just in case, got it?" Naruto nodded before folding the map back up and putting it in his bag. He then got up to go to his room and prepare for the next week. "Got it mom, I'll finish packing and then head off. I'll see you when I get back in a week! By then I'm sure that Kurama and I will be ready for our journey! Dattebayo!"

Kushina sighed at her son's enthusiasm, before realising something. "Kurama. Wait, who is that? I have never heard of him before." Naruto turned around to answer. "It is the nickname that I decided to give my Vulpix. It just seemed like a good name to give him." He then shot off to his room to finish his preparations.

'_Kurama, huh? Not bad nickname. Hopefully his attitude is fixed by the time they get back. I don't think my garden can survive three hot heads at once.'_ Once again remembering the state of her garden, Kushina went over and collapsed onto the couch in the living room._ 'All that work, ruined! Damn it, Naruto! Next time that you come here after your journey you better have some good presents for me!'_

* * *

It had been two hours since Naruto had left the house and he had just arrived at the camping ground. Looking around to make sure that there weren't any wild Pokémon around; he placed down his pack and sat down on a nearby rock.

'_Man, that walk really took it out of me. I really need to get fit since I am starting my journey soon. But I guess that is what this week is for.'_ After a couple minutes of rest, Naruto got up and started to prepare the area so that he could set up camp. He decided to use this as part of his exercise, so he started to pick up some of the rocks and move them to the edge of the cliff base, making sure to clear a spot large enough to pitch his tent.

This took around an hour to do, mainly because Naruto was turning it into a workout. After he had cleared a large enough spot so that he wasn't sleeping on any overly large lumps and made a fire pit for him to cook on, he moved to grab his pack and head over to the nearby stream to grab some water. Making sure that the water was healthy to drink; he filled his large canteen and put it aside. Looking around, he noticed that there were some Bidoof's drinking further down the stream, along with a Stantler or two. He thought there would be some around with this stream being here. It was one of the reasons he chose this location, it would allow him to battle a variety of Pokémon that would come down to have a drink from the stream. Now if only he could get Kurama to cooperate…

The sun was setting and Naruto had started to cook some dinner over a fire he had made. It was nothing big, just a simple stew recipe his mother had hammered into his head. It wasn't ramen, but it was definitely better than nothing.

With the day nearly over Naruto decided to finally let Kurama out of his Pokéball. Naruto had been trying to think of a good way to gain his trust, and so far he had come up with very little. Deciding to wing it he released the orange Vulpix that he could at least talk to the Pokémon for a bit. Seeing the Pokémon stretch as he was released made Naruto wonder if Pokémon were cramped inside their Pokéballs. So far Kurama made it seem like it.

"Hey there Vulpix! I finally made it to the camping spot that we are going to be staying for the next week. Sorry I didn't let you out earlier but I was preparing the camping site for us to stay at." The Vulpix merely snorted and started to charge up and** Ember **to fire at his so called _'trainer'_. Naruto seeing this quickly backed up a bit while waving his hands in front of him.

"Whoa, whoa! Calm down! For now I just want to talk. If you want to burn me after we are done then you can!" Vulpix thinking over what the human in front of him said, let the **Ember** attack die down, but still kept its guard up, just in case.

"Okay, that's better. You don't need to get shitty at me every time I let you out you know." Vulpix simply growled in response. "Fine, calm down. Now what I wanted to talk about is the fact you were chosen to be my first starter. The thing is, I know about you past, at least some of it, and from what I heard you had a seriously bad life when it came to people."

Vulpix cocked its ear up a bit at this. How did this human know about what it went through, or better yet, what did it hope to achieve by doing so?

Seeing he had the Vulpix's attention now, Naruto continued. "Now I won't pretend to know what you are going through, because I personally have had a pretty sheltered life. But what I can do is offer you a chance to have a better life alongside me. I assure you that I am nothing like the humans you have met before, and you shouldn't judge me based on others. It wouldn't be fair on other Vulpix's if I judged them to all act like you do, now would it?" Vulpix growled. As much as it hated to admit it, the human had a point. Though it didn't mean that it was wrong in its assumptions most of the time.

"Now this is what I wanted to offer. I don't want to bring you on my journey if you are not willing to come, otherwise that would make me no better than any of the other humans that you met before. However, I want you to spend the next week with me to see if I can change your mind about humans, or at least about me being different from the ones you know. All you need to do is not run away beforehand and cooperate with me. If you still not wish to come with me on my journey, I'll let you go, simple as that."

The little fox Pokémon's ears perked up at that. All it had to do was put up with this human for a week and it will be free? It seemed too good to be true; it had to be a trick.

Seeing the look in the Vulpix's eyes, Naruto quickly acted to prevent that doubt. "Look I know you don't trust me, give me a second and I'll prove it to you." Getting up from where he was sitting he moved over to where his bag was, with the Vulpix's eyes on him the entire time.

When he came back the Pokémon saw that he had some string in his hands. He sat down and started to tie the string onto a Pokéball, his to be precise. After a couple of minutes, Naruto had finished crafting a crude necklace with the Pokéball at its centre. Naruto then looked up and said "Now I am going to give this to you on the condition that you don't run away until the end of the last day. I'll keep my promise if you keep yours, deal?"

The Vulpix began to think of the opportunity given to him. He could agree then run off that night Pokéball and all, but that would mean he broke a promise, and he never wanted stoop the level of humans and break his word. Besides, he was curious if this human would keep his own promise and let him go at the end of the week. He doubted it. But, BUT! If the human did keep his word, he would be free, and if he didn't he still would be able to escape since he had his Pokéball. It was overall a win-win situation for him.

Naruto could see that the Pokémon was really thinking this over. He really hoped that by giving him his own trust the Pokémon would come to trust him too, at least for this week. After a few more moments of tense silence the little fox Pokémon looked up.

"Vul Vulpix." The Vulpix nodded at Naruto, before cautiously moving over to him. Naruto smiled at the Pokémon. Being careful to not make any sudden movements that might startle the Pokémon, Naruto fastened the makeshift necklace to him. Once he was sure that the necklace wouldn't fall off, he slowly moved his hands away and allowed to Pokémon to back up a bit.

"Alright, so we have a deal! I promise you that you won't regret this decision!" Vulpix snorted, it certainly hoped not. Naruto then walked over to the fire where the food had nearly finished cooking. "Come on then, let's eat before we starve. There is nothing like a good dinner before we head to bed!" Vulpix said nothing, moving near the fire waiting for his food to be served. Once both he and Naruto had their food they sat down in silence and started to eat their meals.

Naruto was half way through his when he remembered something. "Oh yeah… Hey Vulpix, you know my name, but I don't know yours. I'm not sure if you Pokémon get names when you are born." Vulpix looked up from his own dinner. Honestly it was never given a name, It was just called by its species name.

"Do you mind if I name you? I thought of a really cool name for you when I first got you. What do you think of the name 'Kurama'?" The Vulpix thought about it for a bit before shrugging, it wasn't like it was like he was going to stay longer than the week, so this human – Naruto he believed he was called? – could call him whatever he liked. But he had to admit, Kurama had a nice ring to it.

Naruto smiled before saying, "All right! Kurama it is! Now let's finish our dinner and head to bed. We got a long week ahead of us. We're going to need all the energy we can get!" The newly named Kurama simply nodded, before returning to its meal, wondering what the week will hold.

* * *

**Day 1**

* * *

It was the early morning when Naruto woke up. Looking around he saw some Starly's chirping in the trees nearby, most likely also just waking up to start the day. He smiled thinking was definitely looking forward to waking up like this when he left Twinleaf Town. Getting out of his sleeping bag he started to do some morning stretches to start up the day. It was something his mother had told him, getting up the moment you wake up and doing stretches every morning made you feel more energetic throughout the day, and with what he had planned for the day he was going to need it.

Once he had done his stretches, Naruto then moved over to his bag and fished out some cereal and long life milk. Checking the date on the bottle to make sure that is was safe to drink, he then pulled out some Pokéfood for Kurama. Looking over to his fox companion he saw him curled up in a hollow at the bottom of a tree, a little bit away from where he was currently sleeping.

Deciding to leave him for a bit, Naruto served up both his and Kurama's breakfast before starting to eat his while going over a mental checklist of what he wanted to do today. He mainly wanted to get some exercise in before lunch, which was a high priority he believed. Maybe then work on mock battles with Kurama after that, if he can get him to cooperate.

After finishing his breakfast he packed away his utensils before looking at his watch. Seeing that the time was 7:00am he turned around to where the fox Pokémon was sleeping. "Hey Kurama, get up already! It is morning and we have a lot to do!" He shouted at the Pokémon, who woke up abruptly at the loud noise. Looking over at the source of the noise, Kurama growled at Naruto. "Now don't be like that, remember you promised to cooperate for this week, that includes waking up early and getting some exercise in! I don't know if you need it but I know I definitely do!" Naruto then pointed over to where he had placed the bowl of Pokéfood. "I left your breakfast over there. I am going to go over to the stream to freshen up a bit, so I'll be back in a minute so we can start training."

Naruto ran off to the river to do just that, leaving a confused Vulpix behind him. This human wasn't going to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn't run away? Why did Naruto trust him so much knowing he hated humans? He really didn't get it, but he was sure it was some sort of trick to make him feel safe. Moving over to where the young buy had left his food, he took a sniff of it to see if it was safe to eat. Not smelling anything out of the ordinary, apart from the delicious smelling food, Kurama began to dig into his meal.

Naruto returned about ten minutes later looking a bit cleaner than he was before. Looking over to find Kurama had just finished his meal, he moved over to clean up and prepare for their training session.

While he was at the stream he had thought of some exercises both he and Kurama could do together, simple ones that would be beneficial for both of them. After he had finished cleaning up the camp site, Naruto turned to Kurama and said "Well then, let's get started! First let's do some laps around the clearing for as long as we can. We will use this so that we can see any improvements that we make at the start and end of each day." Moving over to the edge of the clearing, he gestured for Kurama to come over. Kurama wasn't sure if he wanted to do this, but being stronger so that he can defend himself easily when the week was over made him move over to where Naruto was standing.

"Okay, we will run together and count only complete laps. Once one of us can't go on, the other will continue until they are tired. Ready? GO!" And with that they started to run at a quick pace. Naruto could see Kurama was faster than him, so he upped the pace a bit to keep up with him. "Remember, we want to go for as long as possible, not as fast as possible. My mother always said the endurance to keep on going is worth more than being able to do things in quick bursts, but speed is important too though." Kurama could see the wisdom in that statement, so he slowed the pace a bit to a moderate jog. Naruto smiled at this, seeing that Kurama at least listened to what he said instead of just ignoring him.

Twenty minutes later the pair had managed to do thirty laps. Both were panting and sweating a lot, but both continued to push themselves. After two more complete laps Naruto finally collapsed onto the ground while Kurama continued to run. Two more laps later he too collapsed, not too far from Naruto. Looking over to Kurama, Naruto laughed and said "All right! I think we did good for our first run don't you, Kurama?"

Kurama looked up panting. "Pix, Vul Vulpix" he said before starting to catch his breath. He was surprised the human had managed to keep up with him to such a point. He always though humans were weak and needed Pokémon to fight for them. Hearing Naruto chuckle again he looked over to see him sit up and look at him. "Looks like you beat me this time Kurama; I'll definitely beat you tonight!" Kurama snorted at this. What makes him think he will win next time? He will make sure that he wins every one of these pseudo races.

* * *

After both Naruto and Kurama had rested up enough, Naruto decided to explain what they were going to do next. Looking over to Kurama he saw him looking at him, as if he was waiting for the next exercise.

"Okay then, what I thought we should do now is play a little game. What we have to do is take five stones each of around the same size, mark them and put them on the opposite sides of the clearing. What we have to do is take the others stones giving us a total of ten to win. If you are carrying a stone and are tapped by a person who is not, that person must drop the stone they are carrying and go back to their pile before making another attempt. Basically this will be training our speed and evasion. We will do this until lunch time or someone wins." Naruto paused for a moment before smirking as he came up with an idea.

"I just thought of something else we could do. How about a bet? The winner has to do something for the loser after lunch, so we can have some incentive to win." Kurama thought on this, what could he make Naruto do for him if- no, when he won? Let him go early? No, that would be breaking the promise in a way. He needed something that would be both frustrating and productive. Ah yes, He had the perfect task!

"Vul!" Kurama called out, nodding an affirmative. Naruto smiled at this, but was a bit unnerved by the smirk that the fox Pokémon had on his face. He hoped he hadn't thought of anything too humiliating.

"Alright then, help me find some stones about the size of my fist, that way you can carry them on your tails."

After collecting ten stones Naruto took out a marker and drew a big red X on each stone so they could be identified. Kurama took five stones to his side while Naruto took the rest to his. Once the stones had been placed they turn towards each other. Naruto picked up a small stone next to him, saying "When this rock hits the ground we will begin." With that, Naruto threw the rock high into the air. Both sides prepared themselves as the rock rapidly descended, hitting the ground with a dull 'thump!' and the moment it touched down both parties had shot off determined to be the winner of this competition.

* * *

Dawn was skipping down the road with her new Piplup by her side, humming a cheery tune as she made her way to a small clearing near her house. Looking over to her new partner, she couldn't wait to get started with him and practice coordinating. Honestly, while she was giddy with excitement about starting her journey soon, she was also a bit nervous. She had never really left home like this before, and it was really a daunting thing for her. She quickly shook those thoughts out of her head, no need for such negative thinking!

As she arrived at her new training spot for the week, she turned to her partner. "Okay then Piplup! Before we get started how about we see what you are made of?" Seeing that he was ready for action, she pointed at a tree that was nearby. "I want you to launch all the attacks you know at that tree, that way I know what we have to work with." Piplup, seeing an opportunity to impress his new trainer, puffed out his chest with a chirp of "Piplup pip!" Turning towards the tree he opened his beak and let loose a large amount of bubbles that propelled towards the tree, before exploding on contact into a shower of droplets. Piplup then rushed at the tree and started o hit it with its flippers, leaving small marks in the base of the tree. After a couple of seconds Piplup then backed off before starting to growl, causing Dawn to sequel a bit at the cute action. Piplup then returned to her side and puffed out his chest in pride.

"Pip Piplup, lup!" Dawn giggled at her partner's actions before starting to speak. "Okay, so you know Pound, Growl and Bubble. I can definitely think of some combinations with that, but for now let's just take some time to get to know each other." She then sat down on the ground and pulled out some Poffins she had made at home yesterday.

"From what I have heard, I will not be able to understand what you say for a bit. That is what the teachers at the Academy have told me. So why not practice understanding you now?" Getting an affirmative chirp from him, he sat down opposite of her, Dawn giving him a Poffin as he sat down. "So, let's start with our likes and dislikes, if I correctly guess what you are trying to say, raise your flipper into the air." "Pip!" Piplup shouted as he started to continuously chirp, with Dawn doing her best to understand him.

* * *

"This seems like a nice place to sit, what do you think Ralts?" The small Pokémon cautiously moved from behind Hinata's leg, to see a green field off the side of the path, with the occasional daisy dotting the grass with some colour. "Ra..." Ralts quietly replied before moving over with her partner before sitting down next to her and a small patch of the flowers.

Hinata looked over to her partner, and seeing that she was acting real shy, decided to help her feel more comfortable around her. Picking some of the daisies she started to fashion them into a daisy chain, something that her mother showed her to help ease her nerves when she was stressed.

As she continued doing this, Ralts looked on with great interest; she wondered what her partner was doing. Turning to some flowers next to her she picked them and tried to do what Hinata was doing. They both sat in silence, before a small frustrated cry from Ralts caused Hinata to turn towards her. "What's the matter Ralts?" Looking in front of the small Pokémon, she saw a couple of daisies with the stalks ruined. Realising the Pokémon was trying to do, she smiled towards her before asking, "Do you want me to show you how to do it?" Ralts turned towards her, before gently nodding.

Hinata smiled and picked two new daisies before turning towards her partner and showing her what to do. Ralts watched with rapt attention as Hinata slowly fashioned a small chain of the flowers, before linking the two ends together to make a small flower crown. She then gently put the crown on top of Ralt's head, and giggled at the amazed look the Pokémon had on its face. Picking two more daisies, she handed them to her. "Now you try."

Ralts nodded and slowly started to copy what Hinata showed her. It took a little bit longer, but eventually she had too made a crown of flowers, which she then put on top of Hinata's head. "Ralts!" the small Pokémon chirped as she looked at her handiwork. Hinata giggled. "Thank you Ralts, it is really pretty." Hinata could practically feel the happy emotions flowing off the Pokémon.

Seeing that the Pokémon had gotten comfortable, she decided to do so also, lying next to her partner she began to speak. "You know… You are a lot like I was when I was younger, I was really shy around everyone, and it was difficult for me to make friends. But then I met Dawn and Naruto, and they really helped me gain some self-confidence, though I am still shy around Naruto." She looked towards Ralts before continuing. "When we start our journey, I'll help you the same way they helped me, that way you can see that there will always be people to help you out. Okay Ralts?"

Ralts looked at her trainer and felling no signs of deceit, smiled and whispered a small "Ral!" Looking towards the clouds she started to enjoy the thought of going on a journey with this girl…

* * *

Naruto dashed as fast as he could away from Kurama's pile, rock in hand, with the little fox Pokémon hot on his tail. He managed to dodge his first assault but not the second, as he came bouncing off one of the nearby trees and hitting the hand containing the rock. "Dammit!" Naruto shouted before running as fast as he could to his pile, or lack thereof, before dashing as fast as he could back to where he dropped the rock. But it was too late; Kurama had already snatched the rock and returned it to his pile, thus ending the game.

Naruto groaned before collapsing to the ground, breathing heavily. The fox Pokémon smirked before collapsing also, completely wiped out from their little competition. Who knew a human could keep up to him like this. Not to mention the guy was real stubborn, unwilling to admit defeat at his superior skill. Guess that was at least one thing they had in common.

After taking a small break from their exercise, Naruto sat up and moved over to his bag, pulling out some water and food for both him and his possible partner. Sitting down the food and drink for Kurama, he started to chow down on his food. Kurama, not bothering to check his food this time, dug straight into the meal with as much gusto as his human acquaintance. As they both finished their meals Naruto turned to Kurama, smiling as he did so. "Looks like you won buddy. So, what is it you wanted me to do?"

Kurama was now only mildly surprised at Naruto's statement, already realising that he was going to at least keep his word on some things. Time will tell if will keep them all. Getting up and stretching, the fox Pokémon moved on over to some trees, beckoning for Naruto to follow. Confused, Naruto complied and moved over to where the orange Vulpix was standing. Seeing that the Pokémon was drawing in the dirt, Naruto looked over to see what looked like a kids drawing of a house, with a small fox sitting under it.

"So you want me to build a house for you? A shelter?" Kurama nodded in confirmation, before running over to Naruto's gear and putting its paw on his sleeping bag. "And you want it to be comfortable for you to sleep in?" Naruto guessed. "Vulpix!" came the Pokémon's reply with a small smirked fixed on its face.

Seeing this Naruto shrugged. "Okay I guess, I have a tent after all. Makes sense if you want a roof over your head also." And with that Naruto moved over to where the drawing was and started to gather materials to make the shelter. Kurama was confused now. No complaints? No anger or frustration? What is with this human?! It wasn't acting like all the other ones it knew, why was he different?

Kurama growled before moving over to a tree opposite of where Naruto was working and laying down for a nap. It really needed to think on this. As the fox Pokémon closed its eyes it had one final thought. _"I guess that competition was kind of fun, even if it was with a human…"_ He smirked at this; he really did enjoy the look on Naruto's face every time he caught him.

Maybe, just maybe…

* * *

And that is Chapter 3 done and dusted. This took so long because I wanted to think ahead for the story a bit before I continued it.

Once again Read, Review and constructive criticism is welcome!


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys, here is the next chapter!**

* * *

**Training!**

* * *

**Day 2**

* * *

Naruto let out a yawn as he crawled out of his tent, completely exhausted from yesterday's events. After he managed to build the shelter to the standards that Kurama wanted, considering the materials he had to use, they then continued onto their afternoon race. They both managed one more lap than they had achieved in the morning, before devouring their dinner and drifting off into a deep sleep.

Looking over to the shelter that he had made, he could see the little fox Pokémon's head sticking out of the makeshift entrance, seemingly still asleep. He wondered how he could sleep so much, since he managed to sleep through most of the afternoon when he was building the shelter. He quickly dismissed it as unimportant, since he would usually sleep in also if it wasn't for the alarm he had brought with him. After getting his morning stretch routine out of the way, he moved onto making breakfast for him and his Pokémon.

As he was preparing the food, Kurama watched him through a half-closed eye, making sure to not alert the human to it being awake. He thought over what had happened yesterday. After it had woken up from its nap, it was surprised to see a rather well built shelter waiting for him, almost completely closed off from the environment around it. He had to admit it was rather comfortable to sleep in; the human certainly didn't hold back building it. He had to wonder, was he this way with everyone, or just him as some sort of elaborate trick? No matter, he will reap the benefits of this agreement for as long as he can.

Deciding he had waited long enough he got up and moved over to where Naruto was cooking, briefly feeling to make sure that his Pokéball was still around his neck. Naruto hearing the movement, turned to see the Vulpix moving over to sit down next to him, just out of arms reach. Naruto felt he was at least making a little progress, seeing as he was sitting closer to him than he was yesterday. He served up both Kurama's and his meal before placing it in front of the fox Pokémon. "Good morning Kurama! You better eat up, you're gonna need the energy. I am definitely gonna beat you today! Dattebayo!"

Kurama snorted at this, like that human will be able to beat him. He couldn't do it yesterday, so why does he think he will today? Regardless, Kurama still ate the meal in front of him. He wasn't going to give him any advantage if he could help it. After they had both finished their meals and Naruto had packed everything away into their proper places. They moved over to where the start line was. Once again Naruto picked up a rock, and after they were both ready, threw the rock high into the air. Both human and Pokémon shot off the moment it hit the ground.

* * *

Ino let out a huge yawn as she made her way downstairs to where her mother was making breakfast, Budew held gently between her arms. Sitting down at the table and placing the Pokémon next to her, she let out another small yawn before greeting her parents. "Morning Mum, morning Daddy." Her father, Inochi, looked over from the paper he was reading before greeting his daughter. "Morning my little princess, how was your sleep?" "It was good I guess" Ino covered her mouth as she yawned again. "Though I wish I didn't stay up so late last night playing with Budew." Ino's mother set down a plate of food in front of both her and Budew, who greedily started to gobble up the meal.

Inochi set aside the paper to eat his meal, talking to Ino as he did so. "That's not surprising really; I was the same when I received my Drowzee. Though I'm still surprised you got a grass type as your starter and not a psychic type. That's what our family has always started off with." Ino hummed as she swallowed her food before answering. "Yeah, I thought I was gonna get one too. Not gonna complain though, Budew here is as good as any psychic type!"

Budew hearing the comment let out a small squeak of appreciation, before moving to finish off its already nearly empty plate of Pokefood. Her mother let out a small giggle "That's true I guess. Besides, it is good to stand out from the crowd, at least from a contest perspective." Inochi nodded at this "Well just make sure that you look after it properly, after all grass types need different nutrients compared to my Hypno or your mothers Starmie." Ino nodded, before quickly finishing her plate off and taking it to the sink to clean it. "Don't worry Daddy; I'll make sure to take great care of her."

Hearing this Inochi smiled, before picking his paper to start reading again. "Good to hear that, now run along and get some practice in. Make sure to be careful." Ino puffed out her cheeks at her father's words. "Of course I will be careful! It's not like I have left yet!" Turning towards the table and picking up her Pokémon, she rushed to the door, picking up a small bag along the way. "See you guys tonight!" she said before rushing out to practice with her new partner.

Ino's mother let out a small laugh as she saw her daughter run off toward to forest outskirts. "She definitely takes after you dear. She is going to make a fine Coordinator." Hearing this, Inochi grunted before looking at his wife "That is what you believe. I for one have never heard someone gossip so much, second only to you." Hearing her laugh at this, he sighed before returning to his paper and continued to read about the recent jailbreak that occurred at a top security prison. The authorities apparently had no idea how the guy broke out. No damage to the cell, no assistance from the inside as far as they could tell. Maybe he should contact Shikaku and see what he made of this…

* * *

A couple of blocks down the road, Shikaku let out a loud sneeze. _'Troublesome.' _He thought. He was having a good early morning nap, now he just had to go and wake himself up. Pushing himself up from the couch he had chosen to take his nap, he decided to get something to eat before he continued his morning activities, part of which was more naps.

Moving over to the kitchen, he started to hear his wife talking very rapidly, in a nagging sort of way. Just listening to it made him tired, he needed to be quick if he wanted to make it to the couch in time. As he entered he saw the target of all this noise, his son Shikamaru. The boy was just as lazy as he was, and it looked like he was about to fall asleep too. Deciding to save his son from a cruel fate, he decided to interrupt.

"May I ask what is going on? This much noise in the morning is much too troublesome, I don't want to deal with the neighbours again." Shikamaru quickly looked over to his father with a large amount of relief; he had been sitting here for half an hour after his mother caught him trying to sneak out without breakfast. She had gone on a large rant about the importance of breakfast or something, he couldn't really remember, it was much too troublesome. His mother also turned to his father, rapidly redirecting the rant at him. "Once again your son tried to skip out on breakfast and head to the hill of his. Can you please talk some sense into him and make him stay and eat breakfast? He gets this from you, you know? Always skipping meals so you can nap and do very little. When are you going to teach him to be active, he is going travelling soon, he can't just expect his partners to carry him all the way." Shikaku sighed. He honestly didn't blame his son, he loved his wife dearly, but the nagging could even drive a Loudred up the wall. Fitting too, considering her starter was a Whismur.

Thinking fast, he made an excuse the would hopefully appease her for now. "Actually I told him to leave early without breakfast. Like you said, he is starting his travels soon, so I was going to have him gather his breakfast from the woods. You aren't going travelling with him, so he needs to know how to gather his own food when he runs out of supplies." She quickly looked over to Shikamaru and asked, "Is this true Shikamaru?" He quickly nodded; he caught on to his Fathers plan quickly. "Yes, I was going to go over to Chouji's to pick up a book to identify plants and berries and maybe bring him with me, since we are most likely going to be on the same team." This seemed to calm down his wife a fair bit. But unfortunately, she had a knack for sniffing out these little tricks, and always was able to turn them against him. You do pick some things up when you live with two geniuses.

Smirking, she walks over to the cupboard and pulls out an empty basket and shoves it into her son's hand. "If that's the case could you also fill this for me with some fresh berries and plants then? Since you are going to be doing it anyways." Shikamaru groaned, realizing he was going to have to do some work before replying with a short "Yes Mother." He picked up his pack that had been sitting there alongside him and headed out the door to pick up Chouji, along with the book he now needed.

Seeing her work done, she quickly turned to her husband as soon as Shikamaru was out the door, levelling a stern gaze at him. "So, Shika dear, any reason you tried to bail out our son?" Shikaku braced himself for what was going to be a long rant on responsibility; he was never going to get his nap now!

* * *

Naruto groaned as he collapsed, once again losing to Kurama in their makeshift tag game. He thought he was close this time, but Kurama seemed to be able to keep up with his stamina quite well. That usually never happened, but then again, that was comparing him with his classmates. Against a Pokémon, well that was a whole different ball game. Getting up into a sitting position, he moved over to the lunch he had prepared earlier, a few sandwiches for him and a small bowl of Pokéfood for Kurama. Once again they sat in relative silence, finishing of what they had and cleaning up after.

Looking over to his potential partner he decided on what to do next. "Okay Kurama, what do you say to going and have some battles with the wild Pokémon in the area?" Kurama smirked, finally he was going to get some fighting done, and it has been so long since he has had a proper battle. Giving a quick growl for confirmation, they both headed out to the stream to see what kinds of Pokémon were resting there.

As they were about half way, Naruto suddenly paused. He had just realized that apart from **Ember**, He had no idea what moves Kurama knew, cursing his lack of foresight, he turned to Kurama who was just ahead of him wondering what was going on. "Uh Kurama, mind showing what you know so we can be on the same page and all?" Kurama was quick to realize that this human wanted to battle the way all the others do. He was going to blast him for this, but paused. He did promise to do as he asked for the week, and technically this battling would count as that. Growling to himself, he moved over to a rock and fired his Ember at it, then at the rock at incredible speeds before tackling it. The then swiped his tails at the rock causing six small marks to appear on the rock, before backing off and roaring loudly.

Naruto for the most part was impressed, from what he saw Kurama knew **Ember, Quick Attack, Tail Whip and Roar**. From what he could remember, **Quick Attack** was learnt at a later level than what most starting Pokémon are at, so he could tell that this particular Vulpix was stronger than normal. He smirked, this could work. Moving over to where Kurama was standing he whistled at the damage done. "Dang Kurama, you sure pack a punch for such a small Pokémon. I think you'll easily beat any others we find out here." Looking over at Naruto, Kurama smirked. He took the comment as it was, seeing as he was so impressed by it. He had made sure not to show all he knew, in case Naruto decided to break the deal and force him to stay. While it seemed less and less likely as time went by, Kurama was not going to take any chances.

As they reached the river, they hid in some bushes to make sure they had the element of surprise. Looking around, they spotted a Bidoof having a drink not far from where they were hiding. Naruto smirked, this was their chance! "Kurama, use **Quick Attack** now!" He didn't need to be told twice, dashing out of the bush and rushing straight at the startled Pokémon.

Kurama slammed into the Pokémon, who was pushed back a couple of feet. The Bidoof let off a **Growl**, as he got back up and rushed at Kurama ready to deal a **Tackle** back at him. Naruto seeing this yelled out his next commands. "Kurama, use **Roar **and then follow up with a **Tail Whip**!" Kurama, who was slightly put off from the cute **Growl**, quickly focused again and let out a loud **Roar**. The Bidoof stumbled in fright in his charge, right into Kurama and his waiting tails, which slammed against the Pokémon and launched him into a nearby tree. The Bidoof quickly got up from the brutal **Tail Whip** and against its better judgement, charged again at the Vulpix once again trying to land a **Tackle**. Kurama gave the Pokémon a blank look, and before Naruto could give an order, launched an **Ember** at it. Unable to slow down, the Bidoof ran straight into the attack. After the attacked stopped the Bidoof could be seen collapsing from exhaustion, still slightly smoking from the finishing move.

Naruto frowned at first, but seeing Kurama and how proud he looked at that defeat, he let it go and smiled. He was going to order an **Ember **attack anyway; at least they were on the same wavelength when it can to battling. "Well done Kurama! That's one win in the belt! Good job on the Ember too, I was going to tell you but it looks like you beat me to the punch. Want to go find another challenger?" Kurama looked at his human companion and unknown to him, smiled a true smile. "Vulpix vul, vulpix!" Before rush further downstream. Naruto, seeing the smile that his partner gave him, smiled himself as he ran to follow, thinking as he ran. _'Maybe I am getting through to him.'_

* * *

Chouji let out a yawn as he walked up to his house, waving goodbye to Shikamaru as he walked further down the street towards his own place. Walking beside him was his Munchlax, who had managed to snatch a few berries from Shikamaru's basket and was quickly finishing them off. As he opened the door he was assaulted with a barrage of delicious smells. Chouji let out a sigh of relief, knowing that he had not missed dinner helping Shikamaru with his chore/punishment.

Walking into the kitchen he greeted his parents, placing his own basket of berries and herbs onto the bench for his mother to go through later. He moved over to sit down at the table, ready to eat the delicious food that was minutes away from being served. Chouza, who had just finished feeding his own Pokémon – a larger than normal Swalot – and had laid down a plate for Munchlax then moved to sit down and started to talk to his son.

"So Chouji, how did your little foraging task go with Shikamaru? Manage to grab any good ingredients for us while you were out?" Looking over to his father, yawning as he did so, he proceeded to tell him of his day. "Well after Shikamaru and I left the house we went over to where I had found some Oran Berries the other day to see if we could find anything else. We were lucky to find a good variety of plants in the area, so we didn't need to go far to get enough for the both of us. Though we would have finished sooner if Munchlax and Shikamaru's Shuppet stopped stealing some out of the basket to eat." Looking over to where Munchlax was eating without a care in the world, he gave it a small glare before turning back to his father. Chouza also looked over to the Pokémon and he was sure he saw Munchlax sweating a little as he finished off his food. He chuckled before returning his attention to his son.

"That's good to hear, but get used to gathering more food than usual, when your Pokémon evolves you are going to need more than a few berries to satisfy him." Chouji let out a groan at that. It was common knowledge that Snorlax eat a lot, but only a few know truly how much food one can eat. There have been many reports of Snorlax's that have stripped entire orchards and farms clean of any greenery. Honestly Chouji was going to have it tough trying to keep fed at a level where it wouldn't go to sleep, but not hungry enough to go demolish an apple plantation.

Finishing off his own meal, Chouji moved to go to his room. "Thanks for the meal, mom! Guess I better head to bed now, today really tired me out. Are you coming Munchlax?" Munchlax let out a quick "Lax!" before moving to follow his big-boned partner to bed. Chouza let out a small chuckle at how fast Munchlax moved to keep up with his friend. "Looks like Chouji got a good partner for himself. He is definitely going to help him on his journey, come to think of it…" Turning to his wife, he asked her a question. "Do you know what Chouji is going to be gunning for? Contests or gym battles?" Hearing this, Chouji's mom let out a small sigh, "Honestly I'm not sure, he's strong enough to do battles, but his heart might stop him so his Pokémon won't get hurt."

Chouza grunted in agreement before returning to his own thoughts. He honestly wasn't sure what his kind son would do. Whatever it was, he was sure it would be for the wellbeing of his own Pokémon.

* * *

**Day 3**

* * *

Naruto let out a yawn as he prepared breakfast for himself, having already given his potential partner his own meal. Yesterday had been quite tiring for the both of them; they had battled well into the night and had a little trouble finding the camp again. Though it was good experience, they did fight a whole bunch of nocturnal Pokémon like Hoothoot and a few Oddish. Kurama was doing really well against most opponents, though they did have a small argument on how to do battle a few times. Honestly it was a good day, and he hoped today would be just as productive as then.

Quickly scarfing his own breakfast down, Naruto moved to where Kurama was already waiting. Already knowing what to do, Naruto picked up a rock and threw it high into the air. As they dashed off to start their pseudo race, that both failed to notice that they were being watched.

* * *

"Once again! Put more power into that attack!" Sasuke looked over to where his father, Fugaku, was sitting before turning to his Pokémon and giving it and order. "Houndour use **Ember**, full power!" he yelled. Getting a bark from his Pokémon, Houndour turned to the already smouldering training post and blasted it with all the power it could muster. The training post stood sturdy for as long as it could, before it fell to the continuous onslaught that was Houndour's attack.

Sasuke smirked at this. They had been practicing that attack the moment they got home on the last day of the academy. Looking over to his father, he could also see him smirking, pleased at the progress that his son and his Pokémon were making. "Well done. It seems that you have managed to get that attack perfected. Come over here, I have something for you." Sasuke, slightly confused at what his father wanted, moved over to where his father was sitting, his Pokémon loyally following him.

Fugaku reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device, giving it a once over before handing it to his son. Sasuke looked at the device, recognising it instantly. "A Technical Machine?" Fugaku nodded, "The move **Flamethrower** to be precise. I had the best copy sent over as soon as I knew you had a fire Pokémon." Sasuke hummed, before looking at the disk like device. Seeing the basic information of the move printed on the device, he moved over to where his Houndour was resting and placed the device near the Pokémon's head.

"You should be proud to be an Uchiha son; I expect great things from you." Sasuke smiled at the compliment as he started the device up, watching as it rapidly transferred its knowledge of the attack to his Pokémon. The Uchiha were definitely a proud and powerful family, they owned one of the largest Technical Machine companies in the region. They mainly dealt with powerful and dangerous Pokémon moves, with** Flamethrower** being an example. Since such moves were highly sought after, they could charge premium prices for their TM's. They were quick to buy out competitors, which led them to being highly influential within the region. If they had their way, they soon would expand to other regions and take over the business over there too.

Seeing the device had finished, he quickly tossed it aside already knowing that the device was useless now. They could have made TM's with infinite uses, but why would they do that when the customer is forced to buy multiple copies of the TM's if they want the same move. Plus those devices were expensive to make and copy, and for so little return from the sales it was honestly not worth the effort.

"Go ahead. Give it a shot." Fugaku said as he placed another target for them to practice on. Sasuke nodded before moving over with his partner to give his new move a test run. "Houndour, use **Flamethrower**!" Houndour was quick to do just that. Letting out a huge stream of red hot flames, the training target never stood a chance, and was quickly reduced to a pile of ash as Houndour finished up its attack.

"Very good, now keep practicing! I want you to be able to beat every trainer that you meet, hands down! I will have some TM's sent to you as you need them when you are travelling, so don't worry about that part. You are representing the Uchiha Industries name when you battle, so I expect to hear many things from you." Sasuke smiled as he heard this, "Yes father, I won't let you down!" He returned to his training with vigour. Fugaku seeing this nodded to himself before heading inside to pack. He had been away from the company for a bit too long and needed to get back soon. Heaven knows what the state of the place was with those loons running it when he was away.

* * *

Naruto let out a sigh of satisfaction as he finished drinking from his water bottle. He was getting better at these runs, so was Kurama. They had both managed to do about 6 more laps than yesterday, and he bet that he could do more now after this quick rest. Getting up from his spot, he moved over to where the rock piles were from yesterday to prepare them for their next little completion/training exercise.

"Interesting."

"GAH!" Naruto screamed as he heard the voice from behind him, jumping six feet into the air as he did so. Kurama hearing the commotion, started to growl at the intruder, traces of an **Ember** attack forming in his mouth. Naruto quickly turned around and was surprised at what, or who, he saw. Standing there as stoically as ever, was Shino.

"Shino? When did you get here?" Shino twitched, and then replied, "I was here since you started your training. I moved out into the open about half an hour ago to ask you something, but it seems you didn't notice me…" Naruto let out a nervous laugh at that, rubbing the back of his head, "Ha-ha, really? Guess I was focused a bit too much on my training! Dattebayo!" Shino didn't seem convinced, pushing his glasses up his nose and making them glint in the sunlight. "Perhaps you should also train you situational awareness as to make sure it never happens again." Naruto started to sweat a little at this._ 'Man, I keep on forgetting how Shino hates being forgotten…'_ "Uh, Sure thing buddy. Never know when it will come in handy in a battle." Shino simply nodded and moved over to where Naruto's camp was located.

Naruto let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as he moved over to sit opposite his friend, Kurama slowly approaching also. He had been introduced to Shino by Hinata, who had been friends with him for a while. It took some time, but eventually they got to a point that they considered each other good friends. Though with how quite Shino was, it was easy to forget he was there sometimes. Seeing that Kurama had moved over to his little shelter and had laid down, he decided to see what his friend was after.

"So anyway Shino, what was it that you wanted to ask?" Shino, who had found a comfortable place to sit, started to explain his situation to his loud friend. "As I am sure you know, I had received a Nincada as my first Pokémon from Iruka. While I am satisfied with what Pokémon I got as a starter, I have found it difficult to train, mainly due to Starly being the most common Pokémon within this area. I have brought this situation up with my father, who gave me a Pokéball to capture another Pokémon to assist me with my training, and also as a graduation present." Naruto nodded at this, understand the situation so far. "So you want me to train with you and help you find another Pokémon to help you with your training? That sounds easy enough." Shino nodded at this. "That is the simplified explanation yes, but I wish to capture a particular Pokémon, a Surskit to be precise. The reason being that it is not only a bug Pokémon, being my favourite type, but it is also a water type, which would be beneficial in dealing with Pokémon that would have a type advantage against my Pokémon, such as a fire or a rock type."

Naruto hummed as he got into his thinking position, trying to remember what that particular Pokémon looked like. "Hmm, I'm not quite sure I know the Pokémon you want. Have you got a picture of it?" Once again Shino nodded, pulling a small photo out from his jacket and handing it to Naruto. "They usually live near lakes, or large bodies of still water." Naruto nodded as he looked at photo. Its body was round with four thin legs protruding from the sides. The colour of its body was mainly blue with pink markings under the beady eyes and a yellow 'cap', with what looked like a spike on top. By the looks of it the Pokémon seemed to be standing on top of the water.

Handing the photo back to his friend he scratched the back of his head, trying to think of where they would find one of these Pokémon. "Well I don't know of any lakes nearby, but there is a stream not far from here. Maybe if we follow it we could see if it leads anywhere." Shino was silent as he though on this, and seeing as they had no other leads, decided to go with it. "Very well then, I will wait till you have packed what you need and then we will head out. " He then stood up and moved over to the edge of the forest, staring into it for any wandering Pokémon.

Naruto quickly pack a few things, including food and a change of clothes, just in case he got wet. Once he was sure he had everything he needed for this little expedition, he moved over to where his Pokémon was resting. "Ready to go Kurama?" Kurama snorted. He didn't have anything to get ready with, so why ask? Regardless, he stood up and moved over to where Naruto was waiting. Naruto, sensing his partner's foul mood tried to cheer him up. "Hey, why are you so grumpy? You heard Shino, he needs help training. That means more battles, and you like battles right?" Kurama sniffed at this before starting to head for the river. He wasn't willing to admit it to the humans face, but he was rather enjoying the whole battling thing, just thinking about it was getting him exited.

Seeing that Kurama's mood had picked up, he turned to his bug loving friend. "Ready to go?" Seeing no reason to delay any longer, Shino simply nodded and started to follow the unique Vulpix. "Your partner is a curious one, isn't he? He acts like he hates you yet seems to enjoy the activities you do together." Naruto laughed at this, "You have no idea how right you are, buddy! Don't let him hear it though; he might burn us for saying that." Shino shivered as he remembered the little fox Pokémon's display in the academy. "I'll try not to..."

* * *

**And that is chapter 4 done!**

**Took me a while to decide what I want done with this story. With it being my first one I am still new to it all. I am currently watching through all the episodes of the anime to try and remember everything I can about it. Hopefully it will help make this story that little bit better.**

**Hope you all like what I have done so far! Remember, read and review so that I may do better later on!**


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